The placement of a stent within a vessel often includes pushing a stent-delivery assembly that houses the stent through narrow or tight portions of the vessel. If the stent-delivery assembly has a traumatic tip, or a tip that causes injury, damage, or irritation to the vessel, a portion of the vessel may be damaged during placement of the stent. The vessel may be damaged when the stent-delivery assembly enters the vessel or anytime during movement of the stent-delivery assembly within the vessel, including during removal. Generally, a balloon and a stent of the stent-delivery assembly will be placed in the vessel at a location coinciding with a lesion within the vessel. Thus, even if the stent-delivery assembly is small enough to avoid damaging the vessel, the stent-delivery assembly might dislodge or otherwise agitate the lesion when the stent passes through the lesion. Additionally, after placing the stent, the balloon must be pulled through the set stent before the stent-delivery assembly can be retrieved. Often, the balloon can “catch” on the stent while passing through the stent or otherwise be cut or damaged by the stent.
The present disclosure is directed to a stent-delivery assembly and methods that overcome one or more of the shortcomings in the prior art.